Daman and Diu (English:/dəˈmɑːn...'diːuː/;Hindi:[d̪əmən...d̪iːʋ]ⓘ) was aunion territory in northwesternIndia. With an area of 112 km2 (43 sq mi), it was the smallest administrative subdivision of India on the mainland. The territory comprised two districts,Daman andDiu Island, geographically separated by theGulf of Khambat. The state ofGujarat and theArabian Sea bordered the territory. APortuguese colony since the 1500s, these territories were taken over by India with theAnnexation of Goa in 1961. Daman and Diu were administered as part of the union territory ofGoa, Daman and Diu between 1961 and 1987. After theGoa Opinion Poll, they became separate union territories. In 2019, a legislation was passed to merge the union territories of Daman and Diu with its neighbouring union territory,Dadra and Nagar Haveli, to form the new union territory ofDadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu with effect from 26 January 2020.[1]
The territories of Goa, Daman and Diu were administered as a single union territory until 30 May 1987, when Goa was granted statehood, leaving Daman and Diu as separate union territories. Each enclave constituted one of the union territory's twodistricts. Daman and Diu are approximately 650 kilometres away from each other by road.
On 3 November 2019, DamanCollector Rakesh Minhas issued aSection 144 order banning peaceful assembly of four or more persons, slogan-shouting and the use of loudspeakers across the entire and ordered the conversion of Government High School, Bhimpore and the Government Sarvottam High School, Moti Daman into 'temporary jails'.[4] This was in response to a land ownership dispute between the local indigenous fishing community and thelocal administration[5] that had confiscated their land and bulldozed their homes. The ensuing2019 Daman Indigenous Land Clearing Protests resulted with the detention of 70 protesters in the 'temporary jails' and another 8 arrests. Few of theadivasi fisherfolk were re-housed whilst most languished traumatised and homeless on the streets near the rubble of their razed homes.[6]
According to the 2011 census, Daman and Diu had a literacy rate of 87.1%, higher than the national average of 74.04%.[11] Male and female literacy rates are 91.5 and 79.5 per cent respectively. The lowest female-to-male ratio in India (618 females per thousand males) was recorded in Daman and Diu.[12] The Daman district, with a sex ratio of 533:1000 (F:M), is among the lowest of all the districts.
Gujarati was the mother tongue of most of the territory's population, as they belong to the Gujarati-speakingDamaniya sub-caste. Along with Gujarati,Hindi andEnglish were also widely used. Daman and Diu were once part of a combined union territory along withGoa (a Konkani-speaking region) before Goa became a state in 1987.
The use of Portuguese, which was the territory's official language during the colonial period, was in decline and relegated to home use. It was also used as aliturgical language by the territory's Catholics. Standard Portuguese existed in apost-creole continuum whileDaman and Diu Portuguese was spoken by about 10,000–12,000 people in Daman.
According to theConstitution of India, the administration of Daman and Diu was carried out by an Administrator, appointed by the President of India as an agent of the President, not a head of state/government or a governor. He was assisted by several other officers in carrying out his duty.
1 1975 is the year of East Timor's Declaration of Independence and subsequentinvasion by Indonesia. In 2002, East Timor's independence was fully recognized.
